Parish History

In 1870 - CHESTER, a city and two sub-districts in Great Boughton district, Cheshire; and a diocese in Cheshire and part of Lancashire. The city stands on the river Dee and on the Via Devana, 5 miles SE of the head of the Dee's estuary, and 16, through Birkenhead, SSE of Liverpool. The places of worship within the city, in 1851, were 15 of the Church of England; 17 of dissenters; and 3 of other bodies. In 1869, besides the cathedral and some in the suburban parts, the Church of England, English Presbyterians, Independents, Baptists, Quakers, Unitarians, Wesleyans, N. Methodists, P. Methodists, Welsh Calvinists, and Roman Catholics. The livings in the city, or connected with it, are the rectories of, St. Peter, and Holy Trinity; the vicarages of St. John the Baptist, St. Oswald, Lache-with-Saltney, and Bruera; and the p. curacies of Little St. John, St. Paul, and Christ-Church. St. Martin is annexed to St. Bridget; St. Olave to St. Michael; Upton to St. Mary. on-the-Hill.[1]

Resources

Census records

Census records from 1841 to 1911 are available online. For access, see England Census Records and Indexes Online. Census records from 1841 to 1891 are also available on film through a Family History Center or at the Family History Library.

Church records

Chester parish registers of christenings, marriages and burials have been indexed by the following groups:

To find the names of the neighbouring parishes, use England Jurisdictions 1851. In this site, search for the name of the parish, click on the location "pin", click Options and click List contiguous parishes.

Cheshire Topography General 1:" (St. Oswald's Parish, Chester - notes and original records; includes numbered plan of parish burial grounds with list of tombstone inscriptions, i.e., names and general data for individuals buried there; includes also churchwardens accounts, overseers of the poor accounts, workhouse accounts, etc.);

BRITISH 375327Item 5

Monumental Inscriptions:" (St. John the Baptist, Chester - inscriptions to the churchyard and church, and inscriptions not now to be found

BRITISH 375328Item 4

"Monumental Inscriptions:" (St. Mary-on-the-Hill, Chester, and Christleton, Backford and Shotwick in Cheshire - inscriptions in the churchyards and churches, and inscriptions not now extant

BRITISH 375329Item 1

"Monumental Inscriptions:" (St. Michael's, Chester, and Bruera, Eccleston, Dodleston, Plemstall [i.e., Plemonstall], and Pulford in Cheshire - inscriptions in the churchyards and churches, and inscriptions not now extant

BRITISH 375329Item 2

"Monumental Inscriptions:" (Aldford, Cheshire County; St. Bridget's, Chester; St. Martin's Chester; Llanidan, Anglesey, Wales - inscriptions in the church and on monuments, some now lost

"Cuttings book no. 3:" (newspaper clippings, as listed in detailed table of contents; includes note of intended removal of headstones and gravestones, Christ Church, Chester).

BRITISH 375332Item 2

Non Conformist Churches

Chester, St. Werburgh (Roman Catholic), Grosvenor Park Road. Built in 1875, replacing Queens Street Chapel (built c.1800). Registers of baptisms 1794–1956, marriages 1827–1973 and burials 1861–1923 are at the Cheshire Record Office. Indexes to baptisms 1790–1956 are at the Cheshire Record Office.

Civil Registration

Birth, marriages and deaths were kept by the government, from 1 July 1837 to the present day. The civil registration article tells more about these records. Here are two excellent Internet sites with birth, marriage and death indexes available:

Registration Districts

Great Boughton

Poor Law Unions

Chester Incorporation Poor Law union

Probate records

Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Cheshire Probate Records to find the name of the court having primary jurisdiction. Scroll down in the article to the section Court Jurisdictions by Parish.